Phils coaches, officials may move on

By Bob Brookover, Inquirer Staff Writer

With seven free agents, the Phillies expected some changes between now and the first pitch of the 2012 season, but it's not just the players who appear to be headed other places.

While there was no news on the free-agent front during the first day players could sign elsewhere, there was more news on the coaching front.

Three days after interviewing for the Boston Red Sox job, Phillies bench coach Pete Mackanin is also a candidate for the Chicago Cubs' job, which opened when former Phillies coach Mike Quade was fired earlier this week. Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. confirmed that the Cubs asked for permission to talk to Mackanin, and he will interview with Chicago's new baseball operations manager Theo Epstein on Friday.

Amaro's assistant general manager, Scott Proefrock, was in Baltimore Thursday to interview for the Orioles' general manager vacancy. There was a report that former Phillies assistant GM Mike Arbuckle will also interview for the Baltimore job, but Arbuckle said Thursday afternoon he had not heard anything concerning that job.

Proefrock worked in Baltimore as the director of baseball administration from 2006 to 2008 before becoming one of Amaro's assistants in 2009.

Ryne Sandberg, the manager of the Phillies' triple-A Lehigh Valley team, is a candidate for the coveted St. Louis Cardinals job that Tony La Russa vacated after winning the World Series. Former Phillies manager Terry Francona is also a candidate for that job.

Regardless of who gets the St. Louis job, it seems likely that Sandberg will be a one-and-done manager at Lehigh Valley because he'll probably at least end up with a big-league coaching job. The Cubs informed Sandberg that he was not a candidate for their vacant managerial job.

A baseball source said that IronPigs pitching coach Rod Nichols also interviewed for a job with the Houston Astros' organization, but he is likely to remain with the Phillies.

"Obviously you want guys to get these opportunities," said Amaro, who was in Scottsdale watching the Phillies' participants in the Arizona Fall League. "I know Ryne, Pete and Mac all feel fortunate to getting these opportunities, and I hope all of them get to go where they want to be. I think what's happening says a lot about our organization and the people we have here."